At noon, the sun is scorching like fire, and the cicadas are hoarse, still hot and stuffy. The emperor stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the people on the ground, and his face was so calm that people did not dare to look directly. Wu Shulai took half a step forward and asked sharply: "Confused things, can you be guilty?" The little girl trembled, her face was wet with tears, and her fingertips almost pinched into her palms because of nervousness. She raised her face and said, "May I ask my father-in-law, what mistake did the slave make?" Wu Shulai thought that she was going to ask for mercy, and he didn't want her to refute the question, so he was speechless.

The little girl was almost mad, and said boldly: "The slave's sister is loyal to her masters, but she was given to death by the queen for no reason, and the body has not been collected. ”

Wu Shulai reprimanded: "Shouting in front of the royal driver, you don't want to die!" The little girl stared at the emperor coldly, and said coldly: "They are all dead, in this place where no one is a ghost or a ghost, it doesn't matter if you die, if you want to die, you can take it!" ”

If you really want to meet someone who doesn't want to die, Wu Shulai felt embarrassed for a while.

The emperor suddenly said, "Why did your sister die in vain?" The little girl was skeptical and asked, "Does the emperor really want to know?" As soon as he spoke, tears rolled down. The emperor has always had a grudge against the queen for giving death to the seven palace people, and when he heard the little girl's words, there seemed to be a lot of article in them, so he said: "You speak carefully, don't talk nonsense!" ”

The little girl hesitated for a moment before she said with the heart of death: "Sister slave was killed by the queen mother, the queen mother did not kill her sister because of the ghost, but because she was afraid that others would know about the illness of the seventh prince..."

The emperor raised his eyebrows and shouted: "It's really nonsense, Yongcong is good in Changchun Palace, how can he say that he is sick." If you dare to curse the prince, I will never spare you! Someone..."The little girl kowtowed again and again: "The slave and maid are speechless, please forgive the emperor." The seven princes mentioned by the slave maid are the children of the high emperor and concubine. The emperor was stunned for a moment and said, "Go on." ”

The little girl was encouraged by the emperor, and said more and more: "The slave's sister is called Yinling, and she is the godsister that the slave and maid recognized after entering the palace." Yinling was originally a sweeping palace maid on the corridor of Xianfu Palace, but because she was annoyed by the high emperor and concubine, she was demoted to the Xinzhi library as a cheap maid. Afterward... Afterward... Yinling's sister is called Jin Ling, and she is the personal maid of the Gao Emperor's concubine. ”

She said upside down, the order of words was confused, and the emperor couldn't help frowning, and said, "Jin Ling? Why did you get involved with Jin Ling again? ”

The little girl swallowed her saliva and continued: "Yinling once secretly told the slave maid that she was going to leave the palace with Jin Ling, and also said that there was a master Niangniang who helped her dredge up the relationship. But within two days, Jin Ling died. The people in the Criminal Justice Division said that she accidentally fell into the dung pit and drowned, but Yinling didn't believe it, but she didn't know anything, and she washed her face with tears all day long, and there was nothing she could do. Until one day, a eunuch sneaked into the Xinzhiku to catch a palace maid named Ning'er, and asked her if she was Jin Ling's sister, and was bumped into by Yinling. The eunuch Yinling knew that it was the eunuch in charge of the queen's palace. Ning'er hasn't appeared since then, and Xin'er's mother, the head of Xin'erku, doesn't know where Ning'er has gone. Yinling felt that Ning'er was her substitute ghost, so..."

Her words were messy, and the emperor heard it roughly, and he had a plan in his heart, so he said: "Don't talk about today's events with others." When he saw that the hour was late, he did not give any command, but walked away. Wu Shulai was in a dilemma, pondered for a long time, and ordered someone to tie up the little girl, put her in the Shen Punishment Division first, and then wait for the emperor's order.

Since the queen gave birth to her son-in-law, Concubine Yu's life has become more and more difficult. She has always hoped that after the queen has her own prince, she will return the fifth elder brother to her, and she doesn't want Yongcong to be almost two months old, but the queen has not let go at all. In the evening, Concubine Yu knew that it was time for the fifth elder brother to leave school, and she was still waiting in a secluded place between the south study and the Changchun Palace.

Zhiyan held a black bamboo embroidered butterfly bamboo handle fan, blocked the crimson glow for Concubine Yu, and said in a low voice: "Look, the queen doesn't mean to return the fifth elder brother to you." Master, why don't we go and ask for a pure master. The fifth elder brother is looking for haha beads, and it is also the help of the pure master..."

Concubine Yu frowned, and said: "How can I always ask for a pure concubine, besides, if the queen knows, she will only dislike me even more, the fifth elder brother is still in her hands, I don't dare to take risks." After a pause, he said: "Last time, I hid it from the queen, saying that Jin Ling's sister was called Ning'er, and the queen failed to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, which caused Yinling to pretend to be a ghost to scare her later." The queen didn't know what to say on her face, but she was afraid that she would have known it for a long time. I wanted to leave a way back for myself, but I didn't want to...", and sighed heavily.

Zhiyan said: "You are all for the fifth elder brother, there is nothing wrong..."

As he was speaking, there was a sound of boots in the distance, and the two of them hurriedly dodged behind the corner gate, and when the people passed, they walked back to the same place. It didn't take long for Yongqi to come to Gong Street alone, and when he walked closer, he shouted in a proper manner: "Eniang." Concubine Yu grabbed him and asked him a long question, took two pieces of candy from her purse, and said, "Don't let the grandmother see it." ”

Yongqi snorted sensibly, put the candy into his purse, and said, "E-Niang doesn't need to prepare candy, the pure master will ask someone to send snacks to the south study every day." After that, he said: "Yongqi knows E-Niang's intentions, and the pure master's dim sum is naturally not as good as E-Niang's." But E-Niang is always waiting for me here, if the emperor knows about it, I'm afraid that I will teach E-niang a lesson, Yongqi really can't bear it. ”

His words were like a needle prick burning fire, and the pain made Concubine Yu almost want to cry. But she endured it, she didn't want to leave Yongqi with the impression of crying and crying and embarrassing him. She smiled: "E-Niang knows, Yongqi rest assured, the emperor will not know." ”

Yongqi nodded and said, "Yongzhang and they are still waiting for me to go to Yikun Palace to see the rabbit baby, and Yongqi will retire first." ”

Concubine Yu was also happy to see that he was in harmony with his brothers, and said with a smile: "Go ahead." Yongqi bowed, and turned around to find Brother Yongzhang. When he arrived at Yikun Palace, Yongzhang shouted and asked the eunuchs to put seven or eight newborn rabbits in cages and put them in the court, so that everyone could feed them with radishes.

Qingcheng has always been lenient in disciplining the third elder brother, let the kitchen do whatever he likes to eat, let him play whatever he likes to play, and never repeat scolding. Not only the eldest elder brother and the fifth elder brother, but even the fourth elder brother felt that the pure master was too gentle. Although Concubine Jia loves the fourth elder brother, she is very strict with the rules, for fear that others will laugh at her for being from the Li Dynasty and not understanding etiquette.

At nightfall, Changchun Palace sent someone to pick it up, and everyone dispersed.

Yongzhang was so hot that he was covered in stinky sweat, so Qingcheng ordered the kitchen to boil honeysuckle water, waited for him to take a bath, changed into clean clothes, and left him with snacks before letting him go back to the moral hall. The emperor had something to do in the previous dynasty, and sent people to pass the legend that he was staying in the Yangxin Palace today. Qingcheng didn't wait for him, embroidered his purse under the lamp for a while, turned two pages, turned off the light early and went to sleep.

The candle lamp with the thick arm of the Heart Nourishing Hall burned brightly, and the emperor drank to himself, cup after cup, and his eyes were red. Li Yu stood outside the door with a green stick, walking back and forth dozens of times, and did not dare to enter the hall to present it. Wu Shulai's heart was like a mirror, knowing that the emperor was worried about the queen's murder of the emperor's concubine. In the past, if there was anything in the harem of the previous dynasty, the emperor could still find the pure concubine to complain, but he couldn't say anything about it, either it was rotten in the stomach, or it set off a bloody storm.

The emperor also had times when he was in trouble.

In the middle of the night, the emperor was drunk and fell asleep. The next day, the emperor did not go to the south study to read early, and even the early court was half an hour late, which was never happening, which made the court and the opposition discuss.

When he was about to go to the court, the emperor said expressionlessly: "Give rice wine." Wu Shulai didn't know what to say, and said, "Please make it clear to the emperor..." Wu Shulai had been serving the emperor for a long time, and when he turned around, he came to his senses, and hurriedly called his apprentice to prepare poisonous wine and personally entered the Shen Criminal Division to handle it. After finishing the matter, Wu Shulai walked out of the cell, looked at the blue sky framed by the four corners of the Zhu wall, and sighed quietly: "If you want to blame, blame your bad life, reincarnate in a rich and noble family earlier, I can't help myself, don't blame the girl." ”

The emperor had a splitting headache, and even dinner was useless, so he fell asleep on the couch. Wu Shulai sent people to Yikun Palace to tell Qingcheng to tell him, but he didn't mention other matters, only said that the Sacred Heart was displeased, and asked Qingcheng to persuade and persuade him. Qingcheng Mingerqi cooked hawthorn lotus seed soup, changed his clothes, sipped silk flowers, and sat in a sedan chair to the Palace of Nourishing Hearts. On the way, I bumped into Shu Concubine, Wang Guiren, Chen Guiren and others idling on the palace street, and stopped the sedan chair to say a few words. When the green orange sedan chair went away, Concubine Shu put away a smile on her face and said, "It's really a strange news in the world, the harem of the Qing Dynasty actually let the Han girl cover the sky with one hand." ”

Wang Guidao: "There is a queen master, how can it be said that she covers the sky with one hand." ”

Concubine Shu smiled contemptuously and said, "Master Queen? She lowered her voice and said, "If it weren't for the birth of Yongcong, whether the queen's position can be kept or not..."

It was quiet in the Xinuan Pavilion, and the palace maid on duty saw that Qingcheng was coming, and bent her knees to ask for peace, but she was not blessed. Qingcheng sat on the couch and saw the sweat on the emperor's forehead, so he brushed the brocade quilt away and covered only his chest. The Emperor had woken up and opened his eyes to see the orange. Qingcheng knew that he didn't have dinner, so he asked softly, "Are you hungry?" I went and told them to prepare their meals. "With that, you have to get up. The emperor looked out the window, twilight fell, and there were already palace people holding lamps under the corridor.

He took Qingcheng's hand and said, "I'm not hungry." ”

The room was dim, and the faint light was like a thin layer of white mist. Outside, you can faintly hear the sound of the palace people lifting the curtain and walking quickly, and occasionally a few frogs crying Zen, lining the night as quiet as water. The emperor seldom showed signs of tiredness, and now he lay lazily on the couch, and did not get up for half a while. Qingcheng said: "I brought a decanting soup and let Erqi heat it up." The emperor reluctantly smiled and said, "I haven't drunk alcohol today, what kind of sobering soup do you eat?" ”

Qingcheng shrugged his nose and sniffed twice around his neck, and said, "The smell of wine is still there..." Qingcheng stopped, and he said softly, "Don't move, let me hold for a while." Qingcheng was half-seated and lying on his chest, although the posture was uncomfortable, but she was quiet, not noisy.

The queen couldn't understand why the emperor was suddenly alienated from her. Even if you come to Changchun Palace, you will take a look at Yongcong, and you will leave without even drinking tea. She sent the saint to Changchun Gate, and the emperor suddenly said: "Concubine Xian is well, she is idle, I want her to help you deal with the affairs of the six palaces." The queen's heart froze, and she said with a smile: "The pure concubine is powerful, and the concubine is very handy, and she doesn't feel busy." The concubines and concubines have always been entangled, and besides, the mourning period of the concubine of the emperor has not been completed for a year, and the bones are not cold..."

The emperor's tone became more and more silent, and said: "The matter of the high emperor and concubine is really related to the concubine?" His eyes were piercing, he looked straight at the queen, bluffing the queen's face stiff, and while figuring out the meaning of the emperor's words, he smiled far-fetchedly: "Concubine Xian is guilty of doing unfavorable things when she falls on the sun, and the concubine..." "Say that, and go away.

The hall is empty, and the gold bricks shine brightly. The queen sat down in the chair and said stupidly: "Do you say that the emperor knows?" Shanrou stood behind her and hammered her shoulders lightly and lightly, and said: "The master is too worried, if the emperor really knows anything, can the palace be so quiet?" It's not a big deal! The queen seemed to grasp the life-saving straw and said: "But why did he say that Concubine Xian was innocent, and let her assist in the harem?" Shanrou said: "The slave maid heard that the emperor often went to Jingren Palace recently, and rewarded the master with a lot of things, but he didn't stay overnight. Presumably the queen mother has a will, and the emperor is in the way of face. ”

The queen sighed and said, "I hope so." ”

A letter came from home, and the aunt mentioned Jian Yuheng's marriage to Qingcheng aggressively. Qingcheng is favored, and his aunt also has glory on her face, and she feels that the small family in the city is no longer worthy of Jian Yuheng, so she has to marry the daughter of a beautiful lady and an important minister. There are countless matchmakers who propose marriage, and the aunt picks and chooses, making Jian Yuheng twenty-five or sixteen years old, and he has not yet married. Qingcheng forwarded the matter to the emperor, which provoked the emperor to mock him, and said: "Last time, I said that I wanted to refer to him as a Mongolian princess, but you still disliked the noble status of others. ”

The green orange held him idle in the imperial garden, winding paths, green shade and flowers, it was the summer scene. She said: "The princess can't do it, choose the daughter of a minister of one or two grades, and the reward will be qualified, and it can be regarded as a good match." The emperor said: "That's not easy to do, most of the daughters of the ministers of the first and second grades are show girls, according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, you must lose the election before you can get married." Those who have not been selected must have been pointed to others early, and those who have not yet been selected are still in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and they can only be assigned after the draft. ”

In previous years, the draft generally started in June and July, and there were cases where it was advanced or postponed. At present, because the mourning period of Emperor Gao's concubine is less than a year, the emperor has decreed that the draft date will be postponed to next spring. Qingcheng smiled and said, "Isn't it Tanabata in a few days?" It's better to invite the daughter of the prince and minister to enter the palace to beg, look at the appearance and good conduct, seal the grid, and then let some rumors to keep someone in her family, and as soon as the draft is over next year, she will be married. After a pause, he said: "You don't have to worry about the dowry, I'll handle it." ”

Anyway, a few wagons of things can be sorted out casually in the storeroom.

The emperor pursed his lips and did not speak. Qingcheng pressed his elbow against his waist, looked at him with a smile, and said, "What, I can't bear it?" When you see a good appearance, you want to keep it for yourself? The Emperor stopped, put his index finger on her forehead, gritted his teeth, and said, "Audacious little thing! ”

There was once a minister's daughter who asked to marry without a draft, but was summoned by the emperor to Shangjing for a long time.

Er Qi was depressed all day, Huang Er asked her what dinner she was going to prepare today, she was also confused, and said a few fruits and vegetables that are only available in winter. In the evening, Jian Yuheng asked Qingcheng for a safe pulse, and when he went to the corridor, he suddenly asked the palace people standing in front of the door, "May I ask where is Miss Erqi?" "Erqi knew that he was coming, and kept an eye on his movements, but did not show up before him. He only asked her name, and her face turned red with shame, and her chest fluttered.

With the master in the house, the palace people didn't dare to make a loud noise, pointed to their hands, and said softly: "Erqi is there." ”

As soon as Jian Yuheng turned around, he saw Er Qi standing in front of him. He couldn't help but smile, took two steps forward, and clenched his fists and said, "Miss Erqi." Er Qi didn't dare to look at him, and he couldn't hear what he said clearly, but he just looked at his collar in a trance, and the dark black background was embroidered with complicated patterns, and he couldn't see anything. Of course, she didn't know that she was looking at the collar.

She said: "But what should I pay attention to in the meal of the pure master? ”

Jian Yuheng had never dealt with the girl, and when she saw that her neck was red, she asked, "The girl has a fever?" Er Qi was stunned, his face became redder and redder, and he said, "No." Jian Yuheng said: "I see that your cheeks are red, and there is sweat on your forehead..."Er Qi hurriedly said: "It's okay, I moved things just now, I'm tired..."

She moved too much, and as soon as she raised her eyes, she bumped into Jian Yuheng's sight.

Jian Yuheng thought that he had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "It's rude, don't blame the girl." Er Qi's cheeks trembled, and he trembled: "It's okay, it's okay." I didn't know what to say, so I calmed down.

The summer sunset is like blood, and the brilliance of the sunset shines through the sagging Hunan curtains in the corridor, and the wisps are carved around the two people, dazzling people's eyes, as if they are lost in their minds. It was Jian Yuheng who broke the embarrassment, he took out a pack of things from the medicine box, and said with a smile: "I met the rain in Xianfu Palace last year, and you ordered someone to send rain boots to me, and then you followed you to the palace, and I forgot about it, and I just remembered it before, and I haven't thanked you in person." I think you borrowed this pair of rain boots from your father-in-law, and it's really not good if you don't return them for so long. ”

The boots are not borrowed, they are made specifically for you. Erqi wanted to make it clear to him, but he didn't speak. Her heart throbbed, and she took the burden as if she was stupid, and she couldn't say anything. Jian Yuheng felt that she was impermanent, and thought that she was annoying, and she didn't know how to speak. The two were stalemate for a moment, and Jian Yuheng hugged his fists and said, "Thank you, girl, I'm going to say goodbye." ”

Erqi sighed, and said nothing else.

The summer was humid, the queen mother's leg disease recurred, and the concubines went to Shoukang Palace to visit. Concubine Xian regained the right to be an assistant and served with the queen. Everyone looked at it, knowing that the queen mother's "illness" this time was meaningful, obviously to tell the harem that Concubine Xian would no longer be snubbed by the emperor. The Queen Mother smiled: "A few days ago, the spring tea was served, and you came to beg for it." ”

Concubine Shu turned sideways, raised her eyebrows and said happily: "It's the Queen Mother's mercy, and when she saw that we were all here, she couldn't help but want to reward us for eating." The Queen Mother believes in Buddhism and likes words like "compassion for the heart", so she smiled and said: "Shu Concubine's little mouth is really called the mourning family to love and hate." Raising her hand again, Shu Concubine hurriedly got up and stepped forward, half-kneeling by the pedal.

The Queen Mother carefully wiped her cheeks and said, "Good face, why do you have acne?" ”

Shu Concubine replied: "Yesterday, I was greedy, I ate mutton on a hot day, and I had two acne sores in the morning. She touched her face in distress and said, "What, I've already put on a layer of powder, can I still see it?" When the emperor saw it, he was going to dislike his concubines. The Queen Mother made a straight face, suddenly smiled again, and pouted: "Yes!" ”

After finishing the sentence, everyone laughed.

After a while, a grandmother held a spring tea, and Concubine Jia whispered to Qingcheng to thank her because the fourth elder brother liked to go to Yikun Palace. The two of them were polite, and suddenly there was a clang on their sides. Qingcheng looked back and saw that a grandmother fell to the ground, the teacup fell into four or five petals, and the green juice of the tea powder was sprinkled on Yu Concubine's arm. And Yu Concubine held her hand tremblingly in front of Qingcheng, obviously blocking a bowl of boiling water for Qingcheng. The summer dress is very thin, sticking to the arm like a fire, and it hurts to drill the heart.

Before Qingcheng could react, the Queen Mother asked first: "Go to the Imperial Doctor Xuan." ”

Concubine Yu smiled and said: "Empress Dowager Xie cares, the concubine is fine, there is no need to declare the imperial doctor." Mama knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, kowtowed: "The slave and maid deserve to die, please forgive the queen mother and the master Yu." The Queen Mother was furious and said: "You are also an old lady for many years, how can you act so recklessly, fortunately, it is the arm of the concubine, if it is splashed on the face of the pure concubine, it is not enough to see you die a few times." Concubine Yu could hear the praise and disapproval in the Queen Mother's words, thinking that she couldn't speak in front of the emperor, compared to the pure concubine, she deserved to suffer. She smiled: "This tea is not too hot, and there is a layer of clothes, it's nothing, and the Queen Mother doesn't have to punish anyone." ”

Don't look at it as a grandmother, she has served the Queen Mother for more than ten years, and she is more respected than ordinary masters.

The Queen Mother really said: "It's okay." Then he said to the grandmother who was kneeling: "What are you still kneeling for, hurry up and clean up, and then make a pot for Concubine Chun." Mama answered, got up and said goodbye.

Coming out of Shoukang Palace, Qingcheng stopped Concubine Yu and said, "There are all kinds of scald creams in Yikun Palace, you go with me to get them." Concubine Yu was struggling to get close to Qingcheng naturally, and when she heard her speak, she admitted: "Thank you for being a pure master." ”

Qingcheng smiled: "I should thank you a lot, otherwise I would be the one who was injured." ”

The two returned to Yikun Palace in a sedan chair, and it happened that the emperor came to take a lunch break and was very surprised when he saw Yu Concubine. Qingcheng told the ins and outs of the future, and put away all kinds of scald cream, and said to Concubine Yu: "Which one do you love, just pick two more boxes and take them back." Who doesn't have a little bump, there is always a time when it will be useful. Concubine Yu didn't postpone it, and carefully picked two boxes for the palace maid to put away. She knew that the emperor didn't like others to come to Yikun Palace to bother, so she took something and wanted to get up and say goodbye.

The emperor sat cross-legged and suddenly said, "I heard from the palace people, the queen doesn't allow you to meet with the fifth elder brother alone?" ”

Concubine Yu couldn't guess what it meant, so she didn't dare to say anything, and said respectfully: "It's not entirely." "Just one word, no further explanation. The emperor said: "There are two princes and a princess living in Changchun Palace, which is really cramped. No matter how much the queen wants to take care of Yongcong, she also has to take charge of the six palaces, and she can't take care of the fifth elder brother. ”

Qingcheng said casually: "Since this is the case, it is better to let the fifth elder brother live with his biological mother." She said it easily, but for Yu Concubine, it was a heart-pounding heartbeat, and it was a luxury that she didn't dare to ask for.

The Emperor continued: "The Zhongcui Palace is spacious, and I also mean that. ”